Encyclopedia of Primary Education

Denis Hayes

• Publisher: David Fulton Publishers
• Year: 2009
• ISBN:
  9781135240530
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Unique in its field, the Encyclopedia of Primary Education brings together a wide-ranging body of information relating to current educational practice in a single indispensable volume. This book provides a series of descriptions, definitions and explanations that engage with important practical and conceptual ideas in primary education and contains over 500 entries incorporating:

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• Curriculum subjects, themes and topics

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• Theories, policies and educational controversies

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• Pedagogical terms relating to teaching and learning

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• Commentaries on current issues in primary education

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• Influential figures in education, both past and present

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• The impact of educational research on policy and practice

Based on the author's extensive experience in primary education, entries combine an interrogation of educational concepts with the pedagogical and practical implications for classroom practice, children's learning and school management. This handy reference work will be invaluable to anyone currently teaching or training to teach at primary level, teaching assistants, school governors and parents. In fact it is essential reading for anyone with an interest and passion for primary education.

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CALCULATORS

See also: mathematics, numeracy, special educational needs

Children generally enjoy using calculators, though there is a lingering concern that they are a form of ‘cheating’ and concerns have been expressed about the way in which they may deter children from working things out in their heads (‘mental maths’). In fact calculators offer various functions, including the place value number system (i.e. ‘hundreds, tens, units’, etc.), signs and symbols and mathematical ideas such as decimal notation and even negative numbers (numbers below nought). In particular, calculators are useful for helping children to explore numbers and number patterns, carry out repeated adding as a means of understanding multiplication, handle very large numbers and confirm their predictions about answers to calculations. There is some evidence to suggest that calculators help children with special educational needs to understand mathematical notation – plus, minus, times and division.

CAPITAL LETTERS

See also: alphabet, lower case letters

Capital letters (ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQR STUVWXYZ) are otherwise known as ‘upper case’ letters. The first word of a sentence begins with a capital letter. The names of the days of the week, and of the months of the year are written with a capital letter. Proper names – an individual person, place, institution or event – are also capitalised. Children tend to be taught ‘small case’ letters before capitals, though their presence in storybooks (especially from North America) and at the start of each child’s name, necessitates that teachers spend time introducing them. Once children begin to write in sentences, the use of capital letters becomes even more significant.

CARETAKERS

See also: janitors, security

Caretaker is a term used widely in British schools to refer to the person who is responsible for the care and upkeep of the school buildings and their grounds. Depending on the nature of the educational establishment, responsibilities include classrooms, corridors, offices, sports facilities and (in the case of residential centres) living accommodation. They unlock buildings in the morning before people arrive, and then lock up at the end of the day. In schools and community centres caretakers will also be in charge of letting people in who have hired rooms for clubs or evening classes. Although a lot of time is spent working alone, caretakers come into contact with a variety of people, including staff, children, teachers, contractors working on the site and visitors. In larger premises, they may also supervise other staff such as assistant caretakers, cleaners and gardeners. All caretakers carry out some general tasks but their exact role depends on the size and type of building they are looking after. Caretakers are responsible for who comes on to the site and the security of the building. This role may involve monitoring CCTV and other surveillance equipment to guard against vandalism and theft, including liaising with the police. The Caretaker’s Website (www.thecaretakers.net) is a non-profit making personal web site, started in 2001 to provide a service to school caretakers.

CARING TEACHERS

See also: affective dimension of teaching, fulfilment in teaching, health and safety, motivation for teaching, nurturing, relationships

In its basic form, a caring relationship is a connection or encounter between two people, regardless of age or status, to the benefit of the recipient. In an adult–child relationship, it is almost certainly the case that the adult occupies the role of ‘carer’ and the child is the recipient of care. Even so, for a genuinely caring relation to exist, both parties must contribute in particular ways: the adult must initially express the care; the child must be willing to accept the care (Noddings 1992). A caring relationship requires that adult and child gradually form an emotional bond, which strengthens as they develop mutual respect and trust.

Every study shows that people become teachers because they love working with children; as such, they are almost invariably very fond of those in their care and, like a responsible parent, want to do everything in their power to ensure each child’s welfare. Primary teaching is a female-orientated profession and teachers historically see themselves as substitute parents with moral responsibility for children. The fact that primary teachers care deeply about the pupils for whom they have responsibility is indicated by the frequent reference they make to ‘my’ children (Nias 1989). Such care is not confined to the working day but taken home every evening, occupying their minds and actions to such an extent that over time, the emotional demands of caring, coupled with the physical exertion and long working days, can lead to exhaustion. See Nias (1997) for a thought-provoking article about the implications of caring for effective teaching.

Empathy, compassion, commitment, patience, spontaneity and an ability to listen are all closely connected to the trust necessary for creating the conditions for loving relations in the classroom. Consequently, a teacher’s love for the subject is not a sufficient factor to make pupils learn, though enthusiasm and fervour is important. Instead, by nurturing what the authors refer to as ‘loving recognition and response’ rather than thoughtless habits, and by being brave enough to take risks in learning and allow for their own shortcomings and vulnerabilities, teachers can help to develop a tolerant, harmonious and caring society (O’Quinn and Garrison 2004).

In recent times, the concept of ‘welfare’ has grown beyond the mere in loco parentis concept to incorporate issues of law and criminal responsibility. Indeed Nixon (2007) is among many writers who warn that as parents and carers become more aware of their rights under law, teachers, school governors’ and local authorities’ actions will be tested for negligence should a serious incident occur that results in a pupil’s injury or worse. Depending on the age of the children, the person or persons with a primary duty of care must ensure that all reasonable precautions have been taken to protect and safeguard children’s welfare, though defining how this concept operates is far from easy.

Sources

Nias, D.J. (1989) Primary Teachers Talking, London: Routledge.

Nias, J. (1997) ‘Would schools improve if teachers cared less?’ Education 3–13, 25 (3), 11–22.

Nixon, J. (2007) ‘Teachers’ legal liabilities and responsibilities’, in Cole, M. (ed.) Professional Attributes and Practice, London: David Fulton.

Noddings, N. (1992) The Challenge to Care in Schools, New York: Teachers College Press.

O’Quinn, E. and Garrison, J. (2004) ‘Creating loving relations in the classroom’, in Liston, D. and Garrison, J. (eds) Teaching, Learning and Loving, London: Routledge.

CENTRE FOR LITERACY IN PRIMARY EDUCATION

See also: literacy, professional development

The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) was founded in 1972 and was originally known as ‘The Centre for Language in Primary Education’. It became an independent charitable trust in 2002, at which time it changed its name to CLPE. The CLPE is an educational centre for schools and teachers, parents, teaching assistants and other educators, with a high reputation for its work in the fields of language, literacy and assessment. CLPE is dedicated to the provision of services and training courses and consultancy for schools and teachers, teaching assistants, other educators, and parents and families in London and nationally throughout England (www.clpe.co.uk).

CHILD ADVOCATES

See also: caring teachers, decision-making, health and safety, nurturing

Child advocates have a role in protecting and nurturing children and can be found in many schools and community settings (e.g. churches) in the belief that appreciating the views and feelings of young people helps them to feel involved and make better decisions about their actions and behaviour. The advocacy system is particularly well established in the USA and forms an integral part of child protection measures. Advocacy as a concept is also concerned with representing the views, wishes and needs of children and young people to decision-makers, and helping them to understand what is possible to achieve. Child advocates are also, within reason, available at any time for children attending the organisations’ activities to discuss issues or provide information about a problem or anxiety regarding their relation with a staff member or fellow members of the group (e.g. class or youth club). Child advocates do not, of course, absolve other adults from responsibility to prevent the physical, sexual and emotional abuse of children and young people, and to report any abuse discovered or suspected.

CHILD-CENTRED EDUCATION

See also: basic skills, Dewey, enquiry, Plowden Report, teaching approach

Child-centred education is a broad term, which is often, though perhaps inappropriately, associated with the American philosopher and educationist, John Dewey, to describes a teaching approach in which children actively construct knowledge by exploring the outside world through free-play. Child-centred teachers create an environment that will motivate the children to discover new skills and knowledge for themselves. Teachers do not transfer facts to passive pupils but rather facilitate the discovery of knowledge that is interesting to the children. Teachers may establish areas around the room with different activities for pupils to access or children might be assigned to work together in groups on a chosen project. Relatively little whole-class teaching takes place and there is little systematic direct instruction (‘step-by-step’) used in helping children to master basic skills. Rather, children discover for themselves through play, investigation and using adults as sources of information and guidance.

The availability of computer technology has – perhaps unintentionally – promoted a child-centred philosophy, as children explore the Internet. Advocates claim that children working in this type of environment show greater social competency and more creativity than those other children. Opponents point out that children need to be taught basic skills before they can employ them creatively and consider child-centred methods to be an unreliable philosophy. Politicians usually deride advocates of a child-centred education as ill informed and being out of touch with research evidence. It is still common to hear sceptics refer to the damage caused by the emphasis on ‘child-centred learning’ in the Plowden Report, published as long ago as 1967 – though such allegations do not bear close scrutiny.

CHILD DEVELOPMENT THEORIES

See also: behaviour, collaboration in learning, emotions of learning, learning, social development, special educational needs

An understanding of child development that occurs from birth to adulthood was largely ignored throughout much of history. Child...

Table of contents

• Contents
• Foreword
• Acknowledgements
• List of entries
• Introduction
• A
• B
• C
• D
• E
• F
• G
• H
• I
• J
• K
• L
• M
• N
• O
• P
• Q
• R
• S
• T
• U
• V
• W
• Y
• Z